PHILADELPHIA — With one spray of new personnel followed by one introduction of an old boss, the 76ers the other day disproved an eternal sports theory. Turns out it is possible to change all the players, not the head coach.

Such is their plan, give or take a move. Such was the organization’s decision following an interesting if ultimately disappointing two-round postseason shove to within one victory of the Final Four. Such was the clear reality at the annual media day, when as the Sixers maneuvered around the PCOM Complex for a series of photos, so many of them were not instantly recognizable by face, only by the names on the backs of their uniforms.

Within one quick summer, the Sixers had gotten bigger, younger, wider, less likely to defend, a little faster perhaps. They’d gotten different just about everyplace but where the head coach sits. And that coach will be Doug Collins, not just this season, but next, for the Sixers announced that, too, Monday. The moves — particularly the retention of Collins — were widely praised, even if some value had been allowed to leak from the organization. But not to be rude or anything … will they work?

“My job is to develop the assets,” Collins said, “and to win.”

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He does his job as well as anyone, from his preparation to his in-game calls to his camera presence to the stature he commands in the room. But Collins will need all of that this time as he transitions the Sixers from a team that would use defense to generate offense to one that won’t have to be that sneaky. Should everything go to specs, the Sixers will be a more classic offensive team, first trying to punch the ball inside to newly acquired center Andrew Bynum, then back outside, if necessary, to an improved bouquet of outside shooters spread about the perimeter. Simple. So… what could possibly go wrong there?

“I was working out,” Bynum said. “And I was feeling uncomfortable.”

And so, it begins?

For as the Sixers have heralded Bynum as the best inside threat in the game, or some such overstatement, there had been one haunting issue: The historic struggle that coaches have had to get Bynum comfortable enough not just to play, but to sprint baseline to baseline, labor underneath and generally perform the way Collins customarily has ordered his players to perform. Wasn’t Kobe Bryant once quoted as saying he wanted Bynum shipped away from the Lakers? Hasn’t Bynum had the reputation for uneven night-to-night commitment?

While on the rebound from recent if minor knee surgery, he has reported a bone bruise. He says he wants to play and could be available by opening night. OK. Get well quick. But that already has Collins on defense as training camp begins, as he will try to mold a new team, except without its most valued piece.

If anyone can do that, it’s Collins. And there is time, plenty of it, for Bynum to recover and produce. There was also that reinforcement that the coach is not going anyplace. So the players might as well commit to the system. Nor does Bynum sound like he is a conscientious objector.“I want to be out there and will do everything in my power to get back,” he said.

If everything hums, the Sixers could contend in the East. There’s Miami, yes. But it is training camp and, well, everyone is entitled to believe. The only pestering thought, though, is that the Sixers were headed in that direction before making so many offseason changes. So why such upheaval?

“We looked at that team and said, ‘It’s a good team,’”owner Josh Harris said. “But we wanted to raise the ceiling a lot. We knew we had to add shooting and size and depth and skill. We did that. It wasn’t cheap. But we did that. We’ve got the raw materials. There is still more to do here but we’ve got a really good team.”

They have different players, but the same coach. That gives the Sixers a chance to be, as Harris said, a really good team, not just a raw one.